Book Review: Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

Shadows in the Silence
Angelfire #1
Author: Courtney Allison Moulton
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Paranormal/Angels
Release Date: January 29th 2013
Review Source: Katherine Tegen Books
Available: Amazon
Angelfire Reviews: Wings of the Wicked • Angelfire

Summary: (from goodreads) Your strength in heart and hand will fall. . . .Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.
The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.
As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.
Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion.

I remember the days of going to Books A Million at midnight with my son and/or friends for the latest books in the Harry Potter series, Twilight trilogy or the Hunger Games Series. But upon joining OUaT, I found that for 99% of my anticipated reads were just a phone call away to our awesome coven leader to be on the look out for the wanted title during her next received box of books. So when ARCs were printed and shipped for Shadows in the Silence, I knew it would be any day before my copy would be forwarded to me, as the wait has truly felt like an eternity.

For me, getting Shadows in the Silence reminded me when I stayed in lines for hours waiting on Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, only to look at the hardback book for weeks before reading it. My oldest had his own copy, started at midnight and finished within 24 hours. Thank-goodness he insisted on his own. So I guess by now you are wondering why all the back ground information and what is this comparison all about. Mockingjay was the final installment. Shadows in the Silence is the final installment. In other words for me, it is the end. Something that I have dreaded for months now. The end to something truly amazing and wonderfully written.

I didn't want to see it end. I stared at my copy for days before opening the pages. I was emotionally connected to Ellie and Will. I still am. Their lives, their longing for one another, their love. In Wings of the Wicked the ending was such a painful hit to me as the reader, that I was truly afraid to open the pages and begin Shadows in the Silence. However, I cleared one evening with my favorite coffee in hand and kept reading until my eyes failed me. There is very little that I can provide in this review, without spoiling the story. So I will close with this: If you are new to the Angelfire series, start with it first. Ellie is the greatest Angel there is with her guardian Will always at her side, ready to give his life for her, the one he will love for eternity. If Shadows in the Silence is your end as well, please know that the battle and war against good and evil still rages on. New faces are brought into the storyline and old faces drift away. Courtney ends this series with such great passion and vivid descriptions that there isn't one complaint that I can offer. I very seldom offer 5 trees. I view them as the ultimate rating. Perfection. No changes needed. Writing simply at it's best. Writing that I instilled in my students to strive for when they had a burning topic aching to be written down. From start to finish, Courtney Allison Moulton takes you on a journey that doesn't have a dull moment all the way through to the very last line of this novel. My heart ached when the end came, but what an adventurous journey it has been, all because of a book about an Angel and her guardian.